mac_attack

I was watching a show about Ralph Nader last night on PBS. Seemed to have a pro-Nader, pro-third-party slant, maybe not. there were a number of interviews with former "Nader's Raiders" (from Ralph's days as a consumer/political watchdog in decades past) decrying his "spoiling" of the Dems (Gore, then Kerry) by running on a third-party ticket. I laughed. Nader stated that there wasn't "a dime's worth of difference between the two parties;" everyone's in the pocket of corporations and special interests.

He referenced the stature and glory of politics in its birthplace, ancient Greece. Now the word has a worse than negative connotation. Politician is never far from crook, liar, self-server in most people's minds. The only thing that keeps us committed to the political process is a ritualistic cycle of self-delusion, induced at election time. People convince themselves, chant "Hooray for our side!" then run to the polls. Each time a lesser-of-two-evils is elected, both parties are innately enabled to become more evil. It's not a two-party system – it's a sham perpetrated by the oligarchy.

I tell people that I don't vote. I support the system implicitly by understanding that real power is not held by the population and its ability to vote.

And I let it be.

Voters don't like hearing this, and respond:
You can't complain if you don't vote. Voting is your voice. Every vote counts. It's your sacred right as an american. Or the most popular: you HAVE to vote.

Amusing, these demo-fascists, trying to force their beliefs about voting in america on me. Maybe the american public has been so conditioned (by who, I wonder) to associate their participation in voting with liberty and democracy that any contradiction to such a notion seems like heresy. Proselytizing ensues.

ANYWAY, I did speak up at my former place of employment. Subjugation to incompetent tyranny was the response mandated after my voice was heard. So I quit/was fired. So much for the stature and glory of small-business. Here's my new place of employment:




Working from home. Not sure if that's a blessing or a curse - a terrible autonomy, so to speak. Going well so far.

zeit·geist - noun

The general moral, intellectual, and cultural climate of an era; zeitgeist is German for “time-spirit.” For example, the zeitgeist of England in the Victorian period included a belief in industrial progress, and the zeitgeist of the 1980s in the United States was a belief in the power of money and the many ways in which to spend it.

shrimp

here are some pictures of half eaten meals:

curry shrimp (w. pineapple, peppers, zuchini, broccoli, jasmine rice)
takeout from jean wong's @ wilmington riverfront market


pocono mountain & new orleans (shrimp, crab, aparagus, tobiko roe, masago) w. kettleone/clubsoda @ mikimotos, wilmington


old bay shrimp w. side salad & bloody mary (and chicken wing)
steelers v. browns/eagles v. redskins @ timothy's, newark

superPOST (#100)

What exists?

on·to·logy - noun

the study of conceptions of reality and the nature of being.

on·to·log·i·cal - adjective

1. Of or relating to ontology.
2. Of or relating to essence or the nature of being.
3. Of or relating to the argument for the existence of God holding that the existence of the concept of God entails the existence of God.
   

In the 11th century Anselm argued the existence of God a priori (from what comes before). Without a lot of philosophy jargon: God exists because the concept of God exists (see definition #3 above). A similar ontological foundation was put forth by Descartes hundreds of years later: "I think, therefore I am."

Two holes:
a. this argument limits the being of God to a human cognitive scale
b. the concept of a unicorn also exists

What exists?
Tacos, enchiladas, chile rellenos, and Grey Goose Le'Citron



A fine meal served at La Tolteca Express, particularly notable since I was the only patron in the entire restaurant.

"Hell is other people."
- Sartre

. .. ... .. . .. ... .. . .. And For Good Measure ... .. . .. ... .. . .. ... .. .

"Two of the greatest poker minds." Bear in mind that they're playing with their own CASH. That's what makes GSN's "High Stakes Poker" the best on television. Also Gabe Kaplan's masterful commentary.



If you really want to feel sick (or schadenfreude), check out this hand between Gus Hansen and Daniel Negreanu.

scha·den·freu·de - noun

Pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others.

"What a fearful thing is it that any language should have a word expressive of the pleasure which men feel at the calamities of others; for the existence of the word bears testimony to the existence of the thing. And yet in more than one such a word is found."

distinction

egoist

1. A self-centered or selfish person.
   
2. An adherent of the metaphysical principle of the ego, or self; a solipsist.

egotist

1. A conceited, boastful person.
   
2. A selfish, self-centered person.
   

It appears that an egotist may be an egoist, but not necessarily the other way around.

capitalism

"Again, how immeasurably greater is the pleasure, when a man feels a thing to be his own; for surely the love of self is a feeling implanted by nature and not given in vain, although selfishness is rightly censured; this, however, is not the mere love of self, but the love of self in excess, like the miser's love of money; for all, or almost all, men love money and other such objects in a measure. And further, there is the greatest pleasure in doing a kindness or service to friends or guests or companions, which can only be rendered when a man has private property."
[Wikipedia: Homo Economicus]

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves."
Phillippians 2:3-4

12.03.2007 Update: 
I finished reading Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead. In this work of fiction, Rand's Objectivist philosophy registers loud and clear. She espouses a perspective of socio-economics founded on the merit of the individual. Not simply capitalism for the low sake of profiting second-rate owners (see: Jim Johnson), but a world in which each individual is empowered to achieve, an end to themselves. The historical setting in which Rand wrote (Fountainhead was published in 1943) was a factor, I believe, since much of her underlying ideology seems to be a reaction to communist socialism. The idea that "the Masses" are to be served as a chief end disgusts Rand, who believes only mediocrity and suffering can result (see: Pol Pot). I tend to agree.

Who are you?

Where does the world come from?

Fillmore NYC - Irving Plaza

Went all right, show started a little late.

We roll into the city via the Holland Tunnel around 7 pm. Found a ridiculous parking spot at Irving Plaza about two blocks from the show. Only a block in the other direction to Pete's Tavern for dinner and drinks (another claiming oldest bar in NYC) - pasta primevera had 8 cloves of garlic.

Long line to get into Fillmore at 9:30 (doors opened at 8) and Eisley has not gone on the stage yet. Mute Math starts before 11 pm and plays their typical hour and a half set - consistently brilliant live performance enhanced by real-time and recorded video displays (cool addition to the 'tube wall' lights)

Highlights:
Stand-up bass for "Stare at the Sun/Obsolete"
Darren standing on drum hoisted by crowd during "Break the Same"
PECULIAR PEOPLE - finally!
The NYC audience

Great concert.

Hegemony

Ohio National Guardsmen fire on student protestors at Kent State University, Ohio, killing 4 and wounding 16. May 4, 1970

"When President Richard Nixon said he was sending troops to Cambodia, the nation’s colleges erupted in protest. At Kent State some threw rocks. The Ohio National Guard, called in to quell the turmoil, suddenly turned and fired, killing four; two were simply walking to class. This photo captured a pivotal moment: American soldiers had just killed American kids."

Contemporary implementation of the "convert or die" paradigm. Use of force to control the behavior of others. Power and physical domination - but more commonly the threat of harm, pain, suffering.

How do you convert someone who isn't afraid to burn?